Two Rounds - So Different

It was time for the Longhurst Cup at Royal Ascot this weekend. It's a medal competition and an honours board event so all in all a bit of a big deal. The format means competitors can pick which three days of the long weekend they want to play their two rounds on. I chose to play Sunday and bank holiday Monday.

I have been enjoying some decent form of late and there was nothing much to be concerned about. I started well and scrambled an opening par with a good putt. I followed with three successive pars but made a mockery of the easy par four 4th hole and three putted. A par at the next and one over gross and going well. Then disaster struck.

I pulled the tee shot at the par three 6th but had assumed it had landed in the rough to the left of the green. When we got there it was nowhere to be found and I was forced to make the "walk of shame" back to the tee to hit another. I hit a similar shot and it was very close to disappearing into the bushes. My partners had found the original several feet deep into the undergrowth and totally unplayable. In the end I racked up a horrendous triple bogey. I bounced back with two more pars but then made a mess of getting down from the edge of the ninth with a woeful chip and three putts.

The back nine started well and I was ticking along nicely until I dropped a silly shot at the par five 15th having missed the green with an approach from the rough. From there I melted like a polar ice cap. I took a nightmare triple bogey at the sixteenth including my first four putt in memory. Another dropped shot at the penultimate hole and a bogey at the last completed the limp home. However it was still a respectable 81 gross, net 71 (+1) and was very much in contention with a round to go. Given the two triple bogey's in there it could have been a very low score. What might have been.

The second round started well and I was again ticking along well until I came to the 4th. A decent drive left 132 yards and it should have been an easy 8 iron into the green, two putts and move on. Instead I missed the green right and duffed the chip a few yards onto the green. Three putts later and a nasty double bogey on the card. A par at the next and we were back to the 6th hole. Could I erase the memory of the previous day?

I changed club and hit a 4 iron and hit it well but just missed the green to the right and it landed on the fringe. Another stab instead of a flowing chipping action and another thinned effort left a six foot putt. It stayed out and a double bogey to add to the triple registered the day before.

I rallied and was able to struggle out in one stroke more than my front nine in round one and given that I hadn't hit it well and my chipping had regressed to those dark, miserable days I endured at the start of the season it wasn't a disaster. I just needed to regroup and have a solid back nine.

What followed was a elongated ride on the bogey train. Every hole was the same and I found a way to make a one over par score on each and every hole on the back nine. I didn't hit the ball badly but the problem was that when I missed the green the short game had deserted me completely, my head was scrambled and I was duffing or thinning every recovery. I couldn't make an up and down if my life depended on it.

In the end I racked up an 86, net 76 (+6) and finished on 167, net 147 (+7) and finished 14th overall. I am disappointed but on the other hand if I can play as badly as I did in the second round and six over par is as bad as it get,s it shows that in the bigger scheme of things the ball striking isn't too bad.

The big cause for concern is how quickly the short game has gone backwards and left me. I didn't chip well in the first round but yesterday was a complete nightmare. Why did it happen? How do I stop it happening again? I thought I had really turned a corner but the nightmare lingers on. Given the fact I hadn't really worked on the swing last week I am pretty content with the majority of my game. Sadly I've crept back up to 10.1 and edging myself further and further away from single figures but if you can't chip and putt you can't score.

On the positive side I'm in the Masters at Royal Ascot next weekend. This is an invitational event and open only to winners of monthly medal and stableford events and club honours board events over the last twelve months along with previous winners of the Masters. This is my fifth consecutive year of qualifying for this event. It is 36 holes medal play with both rounds taking place next Sunday. A chance to get straight back on the horse and I will work on the short game and find a way to get it working.

It's strange how well I swung the club in the first round and how easy everything seemed to come and yesterday the timing wasn't there and I couldn't find any sort of spark to galvanise my round and every time I took a step forward I'd take a big step back. Still I guess that encapsulates the frustrating nature of this great game. It is said in these events you can't win it after round one but you can lose it. To that degree I did well to keep in contention and I just need to put two consecutive rounds together, cut out the unforced errors and find a short game. Add in the worse putting performance of 2012 with a four putt and numerous three stabs and it shows how well the rest of the game was. All the shots were wasted around and on the green.

Things will get better. The Masters is the last big event of the year and I plan to go out in style. With a hernia operation and some winter swing changes on the horizon Id love to get to my target of single figures in one fell swoop with two sub-par rounds next week. Here's hoping.